Guest Chef – The Restaurant

My last real post on this blog was back in August of 2008(!) That would be criminal if I had really had time to keep up, but I just haven’t. And I still don’t. But this piece of nes is just too much fun and too worthwhile for me not to write again.

A couple of close friends – one a chef and one a developer – are launching a completely fantastic new restaurant – and completely fantastic new idea. It opens this weekend on College Ave in Oakland in the Rockridge area and the reason it is so exciting? It is really over 20 new restaurants, ever changing, in one.

It is called The Guest Chef and the idea is that the restaurant has a new chef every two weeks. Why is that interesting? Because YOU could be the chef (or you could if you can show you have the chops to give it a shot). The restaurant is going to give anyone who has the culinary background to give it a real shot take over and run it as their restaurant for two weeks.

How does it work? Anyone (ex-chefs, aspiring chefs, food bloggers, anyone who has always thought they COULD but has never been sure, etc.) can apply for a slot running the restaurant. The chef (and team) supplies the food and most of the culinary labor. The restaurant supplies equipment, space, a restaurant, drinks, bar staff, a dishwasher, a licensed food service helper. Proceeds get split (percentage of food and all the bar proceeds to the restaurant, the rest to the chef team).

Given all the people who have always really wanted to try doing this, this is a great idea. The aspiring chef and friends and family are going to supply a core clientele from which to build every two weeks. People are going to drop in to see if they can make a find. And chefs who have struggled to get the chance to run a restaurant or who want to test a concept or who just want two weeks of fun all get a chance to show their skills.

The opening weekend (Nov 4, 5, 6) is a benefit held by several of the top chefs of
the Oakland Fire Department with proceeds going to The Burn Foundation and
Oakland Firefighters Random Acts. The restaurant is at 5337 College Ave in the Rockridge District of Oakland.